Proverbs 18

¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

³It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool will quarrel.

¹My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

²if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

¹⁷I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.

¹⁹These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

²³A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself, but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.

¹Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

²But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.

¹⁶Why should the fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁶Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool displays his folly.

³Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

¹⁰Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart; even quarreling and insults will cease.

¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

²When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

⁴Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.

¹⁶When the wicked thrive, rebellion increases; but the righteous will see their downfall.

³Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.

⁴We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

⁵The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

¹⁴But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one from the snares of death.

³⁸Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”

³⁹He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

¹⁵You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

¹⁹Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

²¹To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

²“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the Lord.

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

³A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.

²⁷A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.

²⁴Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,

²⁵or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

²⁴Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁹A man of great anger must pay the penalty; if you rescue him, you will have to do so again.

³He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

¹³An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

¹⁴The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.

⁸They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.

⁹May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.

¹¹If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.

¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

¹⁸Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁶You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

²⁸A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.

²⁰Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.

²¹Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

³who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,

⁴ambushing the innocent in seclusion, shooting suddenly, without fear.

²Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

⁴Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

¹²Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

³⁰I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.

³¹Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down.

¹¹Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

²⁰Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.

²¹For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

²⁶‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.

³My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.

⁴Trust in the Lord forever, because God the Lord is the Rock eternal.

²I will say to the Lord, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

²He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

³For You have been my refuge, a tower of strength against the enemy.

⁴Let me dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

¹Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread?

¹⁵The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.

¹²For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous will see and fear; they will mock the evildoer, saying,

¹⁹Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

⁶They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.

⁷No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

⁴Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

³³The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

⁵Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

²When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

²“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord God says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.

²³A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

⁵¹“Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?”

¹⁴then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,

²⁵It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

¹³A joyful heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart crushes the spirit.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials

³He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

¹⁴A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

⁵let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

⁹Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.

⁹⁷Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.

⁹⁸Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.

⁶Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

¹⁰But Jacob insisted, “No, please! If I have found favor in your sight, then receive this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me favorably.

²⁷Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

⁸A bribe is a charm to its giver; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

²⁰You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.”

¹³He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

¹Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, while the remaining nine were to dwell in their own towns.

²¹Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him.

²²So again they inquired of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

³¹As their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, they also cast lots in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.

⁴²Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected.

²Their inheritance was assigned by lot for the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

³²He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.

³⁹Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,

¹⁹a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.

⁴When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,

⁴¹Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴²When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹²Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.

¹³An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

¹⁴By fruitful speech a man is filled with good things, and the work of his hands returns to him.

²From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the desire of the faithless is violence.

¹⁸for it is pleasing when you keep them within you and they are constantly on your lips.

²⁹Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

³⁵The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.

³⁶But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

¹⁹When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,

²From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the desire of the faithless is violence.

³He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

¹⁴Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

¹⁰A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he lacks nothing of value.

⁴A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.

⁹Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.

²But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.

¹⁶Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

³If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”

⁹The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.

¹⁰But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.

²But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

¹⁷Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”

²Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the Lord. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

¹⁴You are My friends if you do what I command you.

⁹Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the counsel of a friend is sweetness to the soul.

²⁶I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

⁴Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.

⁵He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

¹Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”

²And there was a servant of the house of Saul named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king inquired, “Are you Ziba?” “I am your servant,” he replied.